Emmaus Catholic Primary School
Term 1, Week 4 Newsletter: Friday 24th February
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGES
A big hello to you all. I hope this newsletter finds you and your families all well.
What a whirlwind of a start to the term we have had! We have worked so hard over the last 7-8 months to have our school up and ready to start the new school year and before we realised it, we find ourselves at the end of 4 weeks.
As I reflect over the last few months one thing consistently comes to mind. How quickly time flies!
Things we wait for seem to come and go without us even realising it and before we know it, we are planning for our next goals.
How many of us try to stop and take in what is happening around us? How many of us give ourselves some timeout to breathe, to relax and to be?
It is vitally important for us to do this and to recharge our batteries every now and then.
I encourage all parents to give yourselves time just to be, and recharge your battery in this busy world we all live in.
History has been made - The Emmaus Catholic Primary School Opening and Blessing
Last Friday 17 February, we held the blessing and opening of our school. After many months of organisation, preparing and planning for the day it was so pleasing to see it run so smoothly. The day was a great success for us all.
The students were beautifully behaved, parent representation was fantastic and feedback from our guests was so positive.
We were very fortunate to have His Grace, Most Reverend Timothy Costelloe SDB, Archbishop of Perth, bless the school. The Archbishop also visited every room in the school and blessed each room. Minister of Education, Hon Dr. Tony Buti also attended along with Hon. Hon Rita Saffioti, MLA. Mr Wayne Bull (Acting Executive Director CEWA) opened the school alongside Ms Eva Skira (Chair of Catholic Education Commission WA). We were also fortunate to have various local government representatives with many CEWA personnel.
I must thank the many staff and students from various Catholic High Schools, CEWA staff and the many friends who volunteered their time to help us. It is truly appreciated. A big thanks must also go to our Project Manager, Mrs Tanya Davies for her tireless work in assisting us over the last 8-10 months. To our wonderful staff for their efforts to go beyond the call of duty to help and prepare for the school opening. My heartfelt thanks also must go to Mrs Hackner for her endless and tireless work that she has given our school over the last 10 months. We are very fortunate to have such an outstanding leader and person in our school and community.
Ash Wednesday
On Wednesday this week we celebrated our first school mass in the hall with our Year 1 - 5 classes. This was to celebrate Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent. It is observed by Catholics and many other denominations. Ash Wednesday also represents the beginning of the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness.
Many thanks to Mrs Hackner for planning and organising our mass and to Fr. Bona who celebrated this service for us. A big thank you to the parents who attended the Ash Wednesday mass. It was encouraging to see you celebrating with us.
Ash Wednesday also marks a time of Fasting, Prayer, and Almsgiving. We encourage all our community to keep these pillars in mind throughout the Lenten period and to try to act on them. Fr. Bona spoke to the children about almsgiving as service such as being good to mum and dad and listening to them. He spoke also about treating each other nicely and to treat each other like we would like to be treated. These are a few things that the children can work at.
Emmaus CPS Master Plan Workshops
Thank you to those families who attended Thursday evening's Masterplan Workshop. TRCB Architects facilitated this session, the first in engaging with our families to determine the key aspects for consideration in our school's new build in the near future. As well as gathering ideas from our parents, TRCB have also met with students in our school, the Emmaus CPS executive team and school staff. This collaborative approach means that all stakeholders have a voice in the what the future of our school will look like and the priorites to meet the needs of our students.
The next phase will be the investigation of concepts and collating ideas to initiate a masterplan. We will keep our parents updated over the course of this exciting process.
Parents and Friends
We have had some parents nominate for our Emmaus CPS Parents and Friends Committee. It would be wonderful to have a couple more! The P&F aims to bring the school community together, with the function of assisting the school in providing the best possible environment for the children. P&F representatives ensure the voice of parents and caregivers is heard, supporting and representing all parents and carers in the school community, with both fundraising and fundraising activities as part of their priorities.
If we have any parents who would be interested in being part of forming our first P&F Committee please indicate your interest directly to Rachael at the front office or via email as soon as possible: admin@emmaus.wa.edu.au. Thank you!
Sacramental Parent Meetings
Is your child in Year 3 or 4 and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation or First Eucharist this year? The Sacramental Parent Meeting will be held on Tuesday 28th February for parents of all children receiving a Sacrament from Emmaus CPS, Holy Cross College and St Helena's CPS.
The meeting will be held in St Helena of the Holy Cross Church, commencing at 4pm (corner of Coolamon Blvd and Strathmore Pkwy, Ellenbrook). Children are welcome and only one Parent / Carer is required to attend. Students in these classes will be issued with an enrolment form at this meeting.
Lunch Orders at Emmaus CPS
Today we received our first orders of lunches for our children. We had some pretty excited students! As you are aware the lunches are ordered through Pasta in the Valley, in Caversham. Please keep in mind that lunch order days are Tuesday and Fridays. Parents have until 11:00am to order lunches on each of those days. Please click on the items below for instructions of how to order online. Please note that for EVERY ITEM ordered, the child's name and grade must be typed in the comment.
General Information
Please take note of the upcoming events:
- Friday 3 March: Pupil Free Day. Students are not required to attend school on this day
- Monday 6 March: Labour Day Public Holiday
- Wednesday 8 March: 4 Year Old Kindy Screening Parent Information Session @ 9:15am in the Hall
- Saturday 11 March: Emmaus School Mass @ St Helena of the Holy Cross Church @ 6pm
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
The next newsletter will be issued on Friday 10 March. Have a great weekend!
Sandro Coniglio